Support for Newly-Qualified Teachers

As well as working with teachers in areas designated as social mobility cold spots, we are supporting schools to attract and retain more physics NQTs into these areas through offering matched timetables, where teachers have a high amount of physics and/or repetition of year groups and subject specific mentoring.

Matched TimetablingThere is strong evidence to suggest that teachers who teach within their specialism are more likely to stay in the profession.

Six out of ten newly-qualified teachers (NQTs) leave the profession within the first five years with physics and engineering NQTs more likely to leave their profession compared to other teachers.

Workload has been highlighted as one of the key reasons for attrition with higher workloads particularly for NQTs

A study carried out by Metropolitan Life (2006) studied the reasons behind teachers in America leaving. The findings showed that the most significant factor affecting the likelihood of teachers leaving the profession was found to be being assigned to classes which they did not feel qualified to teach. A teacher was reported to be 1.9 times more likely to leave their profession when assigned to classes they didn't feel qualified in teaching.

The IOP recommends giving science NQTs a matched timetable as part of their package of support. Our local Development Coaches will work with Future Physics Leaders school leadership teams to create a 'matched timetable' that streamlines a teacher's courses to include mainly physics and reduces the variation of year groups covered.

MentoringNewly-qualified physics teachers in Future Physics Leaders schools will also receive mentoring support from the local Development Coach. Mentoring support will:

give an opportunity to develop new ideas freely outside of their performance management chain.

This will enable NQTs to more easily settle into their new role as well as have a valuable link with the physics community in their area, thereby improving the quality of leaders at all levels and improving retention of high-quality teachers.

Next stepsIf your school is located in one of these target areas, and you are interested in receiving support to recruit a physics NQT and matched timetabling, please get in touch with fplinfo@iop.org.